Dr. Caroline Dépatie, BPE, MA, PhD is the newly-appointed Associate Dean of Natural Resources and Environment in the BCIT School of Construction and the Environment (SOCE).
Caroline is originally from Montreal, the unceded Indigenous land of the Kanien’kehá:ka/Mohawk, known as a gathering place of meeting and exchange amongst Nations. She has lived on ancestral Coast Salish lands for over 30 years and brings extensive academic experience to the Natural resources and Environment portfolio. She has a Bachelor in Physical Education (Université de Sherbrooke) and a Master of Arts (University of British Columbia) both specializing in Leisure and Sports Management.
Her Doctor of Philosophy in Outdoor Recreation focused on the “Significance of Outdoor Recreationist’s Digital Technology Engagement in Peri-Urban Settings”. Caroline’s doctoral work was conducted at Te Whare Wānaka o Aoraki (Lincoln University), in Aotearoa (New Zealand) where she lived with her family for a few years. She has worked at the University of British Columbia and Capilano University as an Instructor, Program Head, and Chair and more recently, at BCIT as an Associate Dean in the School of Business + Media.
As a social scientist, a common thread in her work, is the importance of stakeholder management theory as it relates to the relationships between people and land in the outdoor recreation context. Caroline has experience in the management of land-based trail networks including managing trail user experiences having worked with non-profit and government groups and presented at various conferences.
In her role at BCIT, Caroline shares her academic leadership and subject matter expertise to provide an applied education that will prepare learners with job-ready skills, and ensure that graduates work in collaboration with stakeholders, most notably Indigenous communities, in the conservation and restoration of our natural resources for our future generations to enjoy. Programs and initiatives in Caroline’s portfolio include:
- Applied Circular Economy: Zero Waste Buildings (Microcredential)
- Ecological Restoration (Bachelor of Science)
- Ecological Restoration (Master of Science) – offered in partnership with SFU
- Environmental Engineering (Bachelor)
- Essential Field Skills for Environmental Professionals (Microcredential)
- Essentials of Natural Resource and Environmental Protection (MENREP) (Microcredential)
- Fish, Wildlife & Recreation (Diploma)
- Forest and Natural Areas Management (Diploma)
- Rivers Institute
Congratulations Caroline! So good to see your smiling face!